2 years’ jail for Jakarta’s Christian governor
Print Edition
JAKARTA’S Christian governor was jailed for two years yesterday after being found guilty of blasphemy, in a shock decision that has stoked concerns over rising religious intolerance in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation.
Islamic hardliners outside the Jakarta court cheered and shouted “God is greatest!” as news came through that Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, also known as Ahok, would be sent to prison, a surprisingly harsh punishment after prosecutors recommended only probation.
Purnama, Jakarta’s first non-Muslim governor for half a century and its first ethnic Chinese leader, looked calm when the verdict was announced and said he would appeal, as some of his supporters in court burst into tears.
The 50-year-old was hauled to court last year to face trial on charges of insulting the Koran while campaigning for re-election, after the blasphemy accusations sparked a series of mass protests in Jakarta spearheaded by radical groups and encouraged by his rivals.
Yesterday’s jail sentence and his loss last month to a Muslim challenger in the Jakarta vote, which he had once been favorite to win, has fueled fears that hardliners are growing increasingly influential and that the country’s much-vaunted tolerant brand of Islam is under threat.
“It’s another big step in the slow decline of religious freedom in Indonesia,” said Andreas Harsono, Indonesia researcher for Human Rights Watch, after Purnama was jailed.
“If someone of that political stature can be charged and sent to prison, what will happen to others?”
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